Some Oregon Residents Upset at Prospect of Pumping Their Own GasBuzz 60

Doug Baldwin playcallingBy Michael-Shawn Dugar, SeattlePI

Van Crashes Into Pedestrians Injuring SixAssociated Press

US military to accept transgender recruits after Trump drops appealEuronews

Snow on Christmas Eve, 2017Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ice carving at WinterfestSeattle Post-Intelligencer

Amtrak derails near OlympiaGrant Hindsley / SeattlePI

Golden retriever meets Darth Vader and EwokSeattle Post-Intelligencer

Seattle's tunnel project, 2017 in reviewWSDOT

Hillary Clinton Book Signing Capitol HillSeattle Post-Intelligencer

"Our Police Department is at a crucial point. It needs strong leadership in light of the financial cutbacks coming this year and next. It must rebuild public trust in the professionalism of all of our officers. It needs to embrace new innovations in policing. It must retool officer deployment strategies. The council must carefully evaluate these and other factors and make a reasoned judgment about Mayor McGinn's appointment."

A San Francisco native whose parents emigrated from Mexico, Diaz started as a Seattle officer in 1980. He has worked in gang and violent crime sections, narcotics, and the Internet crimes against children unit. Before becoming interim chief, Diaz was a deputy chief overseeing the operations bureau.

He's also worked as a sergeant, lieutenant and captain in the East Precinct.

But Diaz, 52, faced criticism from some community leaders after video from an April incident showed two police personnel stomping on a detained man who was later released from a robbery investigation scene. One of those involved, a gang unit detective, told the man he would "beat the (expletive) Mexican piss" out of him.

Last week, Diaz was slammed again after a video was broadcast showing South Precinct Officer Ian Walsh punching a 17-year-old who has since been charged with assaulting the officer.

At a Tuesday news conference announcing a plan to fight late-night crime in Belltown and other neighborhoods, McGinn didn't respond to a question about Holmes' criticisms, but praised Diaz, saying his officers responded admirably to recent Belltown shootings.

McGinn added that Diaz has been the chief since he took office "and has been acting like the chief, and has been doing a great job in my opinion."

In March 2009, former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels named Diaz as interim successor to Chief Gil Kerlikowske, who is now director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. At a news conference that month, Nickels called Diaz a "natural fit for this time -- this difficult time we're going through as a community and as a nation."

In voicing support for Diaz, Seattle Police Officers Guild President Rich O'Neill mentioned Diaz's role during the investigation into the shooting death of Officer Tim Brenton, the Greenwood arsons and other cases. O'Neill said Diaz was always his top choice among the three finalists.

A gang unit commander during the 1990s, Diaz headed the department's efforts in 2008 and 2009 under the mayor's youth violence initiative to prevent teen shootings. The plan outlined more policing, school resource officers and intervention.

In late April, Diaz was one of 11 finalists selected by a 26-member Seattle Police Chief Search Committee, a citizen panel appointed by McGinn. Search Committee members began meeting Jan. 13.